


Empress' Revenge

by ZurielWritings23



Series: A Hat in Time Tales [2]
Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: But mostly fluff, Dadtcher, Empress attacks Hat Kid, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Oneshot, Revenge, Snatcher's softening up, dad Snatcher, implied mom Cooking Cat, lots of fluff, post-Nyakuza Metro, rated T just in case, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 21:00:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20378038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZurielWritings23/pseuds/ZurielWritings23
Summary: Hat Kid makes the mistake of stoking Empress' fiery anger, and as a result has to face off against the gang leader in her own home away from home. Unfortunately for Empress, Hat Kid is not alone and has plenty of people that care about her.





	Empress' Revenge

Empress glared at the hatted child’s retreating back as she casually left the jewelry store, the tall feline’s eye twitching in ire. As if to rub salt in the festering wound, Hat Kid turned around at the last second and gave Empress the smuggest expression she’d ever witnessed, before going around the corner and leaving her sight with a joyful laugh.

Oh, how she loathed that child. It was bad enough that she’d managed to steal Empress’ Time Pieces and get away with them—thus humiliating Empress and her entire Nyakuza gang on multiple levels—but coming back and taunting her when she knew the cats couldn’t do anything to retaliate? It made her blood _boil._

In fact, she’d decided before to cut her losses and let the kid go, providing she never saw the nuisance again, but now… now her anger was provoked once more, and she was determined to go without the delicious tang of revenge no longer. That child _needed_ to pay. Empress already couldn’t wait to sink her claws into her and hear her scream.

Empress casually stalked out of her store and caught the eye of two of her goons. With a subtle jerk of her head, she signaled them to stealthily follow her as she walked into the Yellow Overpass tunnel. She could hear that they obeyed, however nervously, as their claws skittered across the hard floor of the metro. Empress paused by the food cart, pretending to be interested in the menu, and her gang members wisely walked past a little ways before stopping to chat about a poster in the corner.

Empress smiled a little and turned, walking over to them and towering over their forms. She could see them trembling, hardly perceptible to an unknowing eye but clear and rather amusing to her. “That _brat_ decided to show her face around here again. Follow her. Find out where she goes to hide, and report back to me.” She tossed a small bundle of money to both of them, then narrowed her eyes. “You will get the rest of your payment once you’re done with your task. Now go.”

They gave swift nods and, with a squeaked “Right away!” ran off to carry out their leader’s orders.

Empress watched them go and smiled, feeling a thrilled chill run up her spine. Her claws itched with anticipation; this hunt was going to be _fun._

* * *

Hat Kid giggled to herself as she ran up to another vendor in the metro, ordering one last triple-scoop ice cream cone before she left this place for good. It’d been a lot of fun, but she was glad to go. After all, she wanted to be _far_ from this place once the police cats finished what they were doing at Empress’ store and she had no need to be here anymore after collecting all of the Snatcher Coins in the Metro. She’d had a blast taunting the intimidating cat and seeing the annoyance she caused—just a little payback for trying to murder her—but there was no way she was about to risk her hide just to have more fun here. That was one foe Hat Kid had absolutely no desire to ever see again.

She took a large bite of the top scoop of her frozen treat, entertained by the baffled looks a couple cats sent her way. She’d found out quickly that she ate things a bit differently than most inhabitants of this strange planet, and she greatly enjoyed their reactions to what she did.

She gave the onlookers a wave before happily skipping towards the elevator, intent on leaving and getting above ground before returning to her spaceship for a well-deserved rest.

She was completely unaware of the two Nyakuza members stealthily tracking her every move.

* * *

Several minutes later, Hat Kid held up her Time Piece and mentally ordered it to take her to her ship. In moments, she was flying through the air and the atmosphere, letting out a joyful laugh as the wind whipped at her hair and face. She kept a strong grip on her top hat to make sure it didn’t fly off.

Touching down on the inside of her spaceship, she let out a happy sigh and walked over to the Time Vault, where she carefully and securely stored her newly retrieved Time Pieces. Looking over at her monitor as she closed and locked the vault, she gave a satisfied nod at seeing she now had 47 Time Pieces in her possession. She had enough to go home now, but she also wanted to scour through the planet and make sure she left none behind. After all, several of her friends had proven to her that it was far too dangerous to risk the powerful relics falling into the wrong hands or being otherwise misused.

Taking a detour to her kitchen, she greeted Cooking Cat before snagging a few cookies to take with her to her room. The food-savvy feline happily waved back before returning to making dinner, which she’d begun to do regularly when she discovered that Hat Kid didn’t have much by way of good quality food with her. She treated the young alien practically like a daughter, and Hat Kid had no complaints about that.

**“There you are, kid!”** Snatcher called as soon as she came through her automatic door to her room. He smirked at the fact that she had a cookie sticking out of her mouth and he easily caught the coins she tossed up to him. **“You’ve been gone all day! I was starting to worry… that you’d given up on my Advanced Contracts!”**

Hat Kid rolled her eyes and huffed, though she couldn’t help a smile. He was such a soon-deh-ray, always pretending that he didn’t care about her. She knew better, though.

She took the cookie out of her mouth and grinned smugly at him, eager to tease him. “Aw, are you finally admitting that you care?”

He scoffed and returned to reading his book. **“About you? Nah.”**

She giggled and quickly finished her cookie, then went to her pillow fort and flopped onto it with a tired sigh without bothering to take her signature top hat off. She smiled and closed her eyes, happily letting herself sink into a nap... before she was rudely woken back up by a blaring alarm, making her squeak in surprise and sit up with a bewildered expression.

As she got up and briefly stretched, she heard Snatcher snicker in amusement at her and she gave him a look. He was clearly entertained by her reaction to the alert, but she just rolled her eyes and tiredly left her room without a word.

Alright, first thing’s first: she had to figure out if it was a Time Rift alarm or an Intruder Alert. Hat Kid rubbed the remaining sleep from her eyes and went up the ramp to her big screen, glancing cautiously around the room as she went. As far as she could tell, nothing looked out of place, so it was most likely a Time Rift. Though, something did feel off…

Frowning lightly, Hat Kid looked up at her huge monitor screen and she got on her tiptoes to “boop!” the notification button, turning the annoying alarm off as well. Her eyes widened when she saw that it said, in big red letters:_ “Intruder Alert!”_

Uneasy now, she turned around and immediately let out a startled yelp; Empress was standing not two meters away from her, grinning horribly with her paws casually behind her back as she looked down at the child with a look of utter malice.

Hat Kid reflexively put her hands in front of her in a defensive stance and backed up but was stopped by the monitor, her eyes wide in mixed shock, horror, and terror. Her hands shook and her instinct to_ run!_ screamed at her, to which she gladly obliged.

Empress was prepared for her escape attempt, however, and her claws snagged Hat Kid’s cape before she could get far. The child shrieked as Empress yanked her backwards with a snarl, and once she landed on her back the evil feline pinned her there with her foot.

Hat Kid cried out, in pain and struggling for air as Empress put most of her weight on the child’s chest. Her heart was pounding so hard she was certain Empress could feel it. “S-stop! Please!”

Empress just laughed and bent down, grinning at the struggling kid and gracefully knocking her umbrella away when she tried to pull it out. “Do you really expect _me_ to show mercy? I warned you I wasn’t done with you, brat. You dug your own grave when you came back, and it’s time I cash out on that little investment I made with you.” She glanced purposely at the Time Vault and Hat Kid further paled in dread as her heart sank. This only made the cunning cat grin wider, however.

Hat Kid did everything she could to get Empress off of her by scratching, pushing, and wriggling as much as she had strength to, but ultimately it wasn’t enough. Empress raised her claws, smiling madly, and brought them down on the defenseless child.

She was too focused on Hat Kid to notice the other feline coming up behind her, and when she attacked she was abruptly tackled from behind. Her claws grazed past Hat Kid’s turned face, cutting her cheek a little, but the child was saved from serious harm as Cooking Cat shouted a battle cry and tried to pin Empress to the ground once they landed.

Hat Kid gasped and scrambled to her feet, her hand automatically going to her cheek. She winced at the mild pain from the new trio of thin cuts, and when she looked at her hand she found little smudges of blood.

Empress hissed in frustration and powerfully kicked Cookie off of her, sending the normally passive cat over the railing to land next to a panicking Rumbi. The Nyakuza Gang leader then turned back to finish what she started, but was met with a brutal smack to the face as Hat Kid swung her bat powerfully and landed a solid hit.

She grunted and was clearly dazed as she stumbled backwards, one paw flying to grip the railing and return stability as her vision briefly spun. Hat Kid shouted and went at her again, but Empress managed to dodge it by jumping back. Her tail bushed up and she hissed loudly, beyond angry now and in pain from the child’s hard hit. Eyes narrowed and ears back, she bent down slightly in what was clearly an offensive stance. The fight was on.

Hat Kid glared up at her, defiant and resolved despite how scared she was. Empress had caught her off-guard, but the little alien wasn’t gonna let that stop her! She was done showing her fear; instead, she was gonna show the gang boss that she was done running and was ready to stand up to her.

“Do you _really_ believe you have a chance? Against _me?”_ Empress spat, claws sharp and ready. Where there was normally sadistic mirth in her taunts, this time her voice was full of nothing but seething anger. She really was determined to kill the child.

Hat Kid responded by narrowing her eyes and charging, but the evil cat was prepared this time. She swatted Hat Kid’s weapon to the side—though not out of her grip—and swiped at the alien’s head with frightening speed. Hat Kid ducked and jumped back, deciding that it would probably be best to focus on defending herself for now as her beloved top hat was knocked off her head and over the railing.

Empress didn’t give Hat Kid a moment to rest as she pounced at her, brandishing her claws and forcing the child to back up to keep from getting hit. Soon she bumped into the closed vault door, however, and gasped when she realized she didn’t have time to dodge as Empress struck.

Hat Kid swiftly lifted the baseball bat and lost her footing as the cat’s claws scored vertically across the wood, sending splinters flying and leaving three deep marks in the bat. Hat Kid only had a moment to stare before Empress swiped at her again, and this time she rolled to the side to evade her attack. Despite the jagged gauges in the weapon, the alien held onto it with a vice-like grip and swung it as she scrambled to her feet.

Empress only grunted as the bat connected with her back, sending her a step forward from the hit and causing her to miss as she spun to try and hit Hat Kid again. The child didn’t waste time and jumped over the railing, diving forward as Empress lunged after her. Hat Kid landed in a roll and immediately sprinted to the side, narrowly avoiding the predator’s claws. As she ran, she suddenly noticed that Cooking Cat had disappeared. Had she just left Hat Kid to fight alone?? The thought made her heart twist painfully, but she forced herself to focus back on the battle at hand.

She suddenly turned and swung the bat again with all her might, and this time she managed to catch the crazed feline off guard. Empress actually yelped as she stumbled backwards, a hand covering her already scarred eye where she’d just been whacked. She was clearly stunned for a moment and just stared down at Hat Kid, who gave her a distinctive smug look.

… big mistake.

That look made Empress snap, and she pounced at Hat Kid with a furious roar. Hat Kid scrambled backwards and raised her bat defensively, but Empress easily swiped it out of her hands and the weapon clattered to the floor. Everything happened so fast and Hat Kid felt stinging pain flair across her left side as her foe’s claws nicked her there, despite her attempts at evasion. Unarmed now and suddenly aware of just how sharp her enemy’s claws were, Hat Kid let out a cry of panic and focused entirely on avoiding Empress’ deadly attacks by running and jumping all around the room.

Hardly ten seconds passed before Empress anticipated one of Hat Kid’s moves and knocked her out of the air, sending the child crashing to the floor with a cry. A bit dazed from the impact, Hat Kid started to scramble to her feet but was stopped by Empress looming over her, expression full of greed and satisfaction.

She felt the blood drain from her face as Empress reached down to her, rendered imoble by pure horror and fear. The cat put a claw under Hat Kid’s chin with mock gentleness and forced her to look up, making the alien grimace.

“Thank you for providing me access to all the Time Pieces and power I need,” she declared smugly, grin widening as tears welled up in Hat Kid’s eyes. “The ironic thing here is that all of this is your own fault, girl. I offered you so much, and yet you threw it all away.”

Empress was far more aware of her surroundings this time, and noticed that infernal chef cat returning from a purple, circular door. She reveled in the shocked and mortified gasp that came from her, and gave a cruel grin as she swiftly wrapped her fingers around Hat Kid’s throat and lifted her from the floor.

Hat Kid let out a strangled cry and instantly started writhing and clawing at Empress’ paw, but she didn’t let up.

“Let her go!” Cookie shouted, clearly desperate and on the verge of breaking down.

Empress’ response was a malicious grin and her claws tightening around Hat Kid’s neck, making her squirm and cry harder. “I’m afraid it’s too late for that. You see, she owes me something valuable… and I’m not about to let her keep me from getting it!”

**“Then what about me?!”**

Empress’ eyes widened and she whirled around to face the giant shadow that now towered over her, having appeared from seemingly nowhere. “What?!”

Snatcher’s wide grin grew sinister and his claws sharpened as he raised them menacingly. **“How about a deal? Drop the kid, and I won’t eat your soul and enslave your corpse to do my dirty work!”**

Hat Kid’s desperate expression immediately turned to one of hope and relief, and she stopped struggling so much as happiness swelled within her. Of course Cookie hadn’t abandoned her; she’d gotten Snatcher to help save her! She smiled gratefully up at Snatcher, and noticed that his smile softened just a bit when he saw it.

“I—why are _you_ helping her?!” Empress yelled, taking a subtle step back and squeezing even more.

Hat Kid tensed up again and writhed in pain, her confidence taking a hit from the reminder of her situation. Her vision was starting to blur, black dots swimming across it, and it was getting increasingly harder to think.

**“Because that brat happens to be contractually bound to me,”** Snatcher snarled. He drifted nearer, and Empress continued to back up towards the giant window in the room. **“Now, give me the kid or DIE!”**

Empress glared up at him, but the decision was made quickly as she saw his patience running out. She thirsted for revenge, but she also wasn’t about to risk her own pelt and soul to get it. Wordlessly and doing her best to keep up her ruthless image, she drew her arm back and forcefully threw Hat Kid to the ground. She then jumped back as Snatcher swooped down and scooped the gasping child into his arms, Empress bumping into the hatch as he did so.

Hat Kid’s head spun and her body ached from the hard impact with the floor, but she managed to smile brightly up at Snatcher and hugged his arm, so beyond grateful for the rescue. He looked her over hurriedly to make sure she wasn’t in immediate danger of dying, before he turned back to the feline and scowled.

**“Get the heck out, and don’t you _dare_ come back!”** he snarled, grin replaced with a sharp frown of malintent.

Empress shook with rage, but gave a curt nod as she glared daggers at him. She wanted so badly to attack him and finish the kid off, but she figured fighting a giant ghost couldn’t end well for her. “Fine. But,” she turned her piercing gaze to the girl in the shadow’s arms, making eye contact with her, “if I see you in my metro again, I _will_ end you without hesitation.”

Hat Kid was hurting, exhausted, and still struggling to catch her breath without hyperventilating, but she mustered the energy to stick her tongue out at Empress. She couldn’t see it, but Snatcher’s smile returned a little and he looked like a proud parent when he saw her childish taunt.

“You little pest!” Empress lunged at the alien, but she was quickly cut off as a giant, shadowy hand literally smacked her against the hatch in the window, forcefully opening it with a loud bang. She screeched in a mix of rage and terror as she plummeted back to the surface of the planet, and meanwhile Snatcher’s smug grin dominated his face as he watched her go. That was _so_ satisfying to do; he almost wanted her to try coming back again so he could slap her once more.

Thanks to Hat Kid reinforcing the meteorite-proof-but-not-fist-proof glass, the hatch didn’t break but rather just burst open when Empress slammed into it. Snatcher easily reached forward and closed the hatch back up so nothing was sucked out into the vacuum of space.

Now that the danger had passed, Cookie darted to Snatcher’s side to check on the little one, and Snatcher himself looked down to make sure she was alright. Both were surprised to see her crying.

**“Kid? What’s wrong? She’s gone and not coming back; you’re fine,”** Snatcher tried, though he knew he wasn’t even close to great when it came to comforting someone.

“Hon, it’s alright...” Cookie cooed as she approached, no longer afraid of Snatcher after seeing him defend Hat Kid. “Are you hurt?”

He angled his arms so she could see the kid, and she put a gentle paw on the child’s shoulder.

Without warning, Hat Kid twisted around and gave Cookie a huge hug, sobbing into her fur as her little arms wrapped around her neck. The feline made a noise of surprise, but her motherly instincts kicked in and she quickly returned the embrace with a warm one of her own. Snatcher let her take Hat Kid into her own arms, though he couldn’t help feeling a pang of slight jealousy. He frowned lightly in frustration; curse that kid for making him feel feelings.

Hat Kid was trying to stop crying, she really was, but her emotions had broken through the adrenaline and she was simply overwhelmed. Empress would have outright _killed_ her if not for Cookie and Snatcher; Hat Kid had no doubt about that. Not to mention, it really was all her fault. Her heart was still pounding in her chest as she remembered just how close she’d come to meeting her end in a very painful way, and she clutched Cookie’s fur just a little tighter. The cat shared a concerned glance with the ghost at her side, but patiently waited for Hat Kid to calm down.

Several moments later, the little alien managed to regain enough of her composure to speak. “I-I’m sorry,” she blurted quietly, pulling back from Cookie enough so she could look up meekly at Snatcher too. Her eyes were full of shame; she’d just put not only herself but also her two closest friends in serious danger, and she felt utterly horrible. “This was all my fault.” She sniffled and looked away, not wanting to maintain eye contact any longer.

They were both caught by surprise, but Cookie gently hushed her and assured her that they weren’t mad; just happy that they were all relatively fine.

“She’s gone and can’t hurt you anymore,” she continued softly. She brushed a stray strand of hair behind Hat Kid’s ear to get her attention and offered a small smile of reassurance. “The important thing is that we’re all okay, and the danger has passed.”

**“There’s nothing to be sorry for, kiddo. Besides, swatting her out the window like that was fun!”** Snatcher was inwardly very uncomfortable, especially with being so close to Cooking Cat and her witnessing his soft spot for the kid, but he’d tease her later about it. Besides—though he’d never admit it out loud—he was happy to have Hat Kid safe and sound, minor injuries aside.

After a few more reassurances, Cookie gently set Hat Kid on her feet and looked her over while the child retrieved her fallen hat. CC’s expression both softened and became a bit angry as she observed the scratches on her cheek and the bruises forming around her throat as well as the shallow cuts on her side, but she bit back her ire so she could focus on comforting Hat Kid first. “I’ll go get some bandages, sweetheart,” she said with a nod to the scratches and a compassionate smile. “Can I get you anythin’ else?”

Hat Kid smiled, tears no longer flowing down her face but still gathered in her eyes, and shook her head. “Thanks,” she said quietly.

Cookie gave her a small smile before she turned and ran back to the kitchen, where her personal supplies were.

Left alone with the kid now, Snatcher glanced away and cleared his throat awkwardly. **“... you gotta stop making so many enemies, kiddo.”**

Hat Kid gave him a deadpan expression. “S’not like I do that on purpose,” she muttered with a solemn frown. Seriously, what was with this planet and its inhabitants double-crossing her? Was she really that easy to hate?

Snatcher sighed, but then he smiled and swiped her hat. Ignoring her indignant squeak, he put it on his own head and proceeded to playfully ruffle her hair.

“Hey!” She couldn’t hold back a giggle as she swatted his hand away, not missing his own smirk and lifted countenance. She was glad to see him happy instead of angry again. “Gimme my hat back!”

He feigned offense and gasped. **“Yeesh, kid, I’ve only had it for like five seconds! You’re so selfish.”**

She giggled and hopped onto his arm, grinning at his grunt of surprise as she ran up it and started climbing towards his head.

**“Whoa whoa whoa!”** He plucked her off of his mane and held her by her cape. She winced as pressure was put on her neck, and he quickly put his other hand up to support her and let go of her cape. **“Er, sorry, kiddo. Guess I’ll have to go easy on you until you recover, huh?”**

She stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at him, gingerly rubbing her neck with one hand and holding back a pained grimace as she tried to play off the pain. “Don’t make me turn you blue again!”

His eyes narrowed, but it was clear he wasn’t actually mad. **“Oh, don’t you _dare.”_**

She laughed at his “threat,” but immediately tried to look all serious again as she made a “give it” motion. “Don’t make me show you what I’m _really_ capable of!” she almost shouted, making her voice deep in an attempt to mimic Snatcher’s voice.

He stared at her for a moment, surprised by her imitation, before he started laughing hard. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked unimpressed with his reaction, but the corner of her mouth quirked up in amusement.

Then, her eyes lit up with an idea. A grin spreading across her face, she took advantage of his distraction and hopped up, snatching her hat from his head and gracefully landing on the floor behind him after performing a front flip.

**“Wha—HEY!”** He whirled around to face her as he realized what had just happened, and he smirked as she gave him a bow before putting her top hat in its rightful spot on her head with a flourish. To add the frosting to the cake, she gave him a sass-filled grin and winked. **“Why, you little weasel!”**

She laughed and made to run away, but stopped as Cooking Cat reammerged from the kitchen with a first-aid kit and a cup of water in her paws.

One of her ears twitched and she gave Snatcher a reprimanding look. “No more roughhousing until she’s recovered, alright?” Her tone made it painfully clear that she wasn’t kidding around.

Snatcher’s mane spiked slightly; he wasn’t about to take orders from a lowly chef! He was the great Snatcher, stealer of souls! Yet, as he glanced at Hat Kid, he saw mischief glinting in her bright turquoise eyes that told him to just go with it for now. They could always do things behind Cookie’s back, after all.

**“... fine,”** he eventually grumbled, letting her know with his expression that he wasn’t happy about complying.

Cookie smiled at him before turning her attention to the little alien. “Now, dear, let me see those scratches…”

* * *

“. . . and then she started shooting diamond-tipped missiles at me!” Hat Kid exclaimed, waving her hands in the air for dramatic emphasis. She then grinned smugly. “But I outsmarted her and made her missiles destroy the barriers she’d put up to try and stop me.”

Cooking Cat and Statcher stared at her, both shocked and impressed as Hat Kid told them her tale of Nyakuza Metro. The threesome were in her room, sitting in various spots on and in the kid’s massive pile of pillows as they listened to her stories. Of course some of it was exaggerated, but that was to be expected.

Hat Kid was careful not to move her head around too much, but the scratches on her cheek as well as the shallow cuts on her left side were now covered in bandages and they didn’t bother her much anymore. She was also wearing her single pair of pajamas until she later cleaned and fixed up her normal outfit. Cookie ordered her to rest for the next day or so in order for the bruises to heal a bit before she returned to adventuring around. The alien child was reluctant, but eventually gave in to the feline chef’s demands. In exchange, though, she convinced Snatcher and Cookie to help her pass the time so she wasn’t so bored.

**“So what, you’ve now added ‘gang member’ to your list of hobbies?”** Snatcher shook his head with a smirk of amusement. **“You’re really something, kid. I’m almost impressed!”**

Cooking Cat nodded, looking far more worried than Snatcher. “Are you certain you’re alright, hon? Do you need any of us to check if there are any more Time Pieces there?”

Hat Kid was clearly surprised by the offer and her smile widened to show it. Maybe Cookie was just offering to be nice, but the gesture warmed the alien’s heart nonetheless. “I checked my Time Piece detector and there doesn’t seem to be any more in the metro. Thank you though!”

The savvy chef smiled. “Of course, darlin’.”

Hat Kid snuggled into the pillows a little more, snagging a cookie from the plate Cooking Cat had set between them and nibbling on the treat. She looked at her friends thoughtfully, joy and love swelling inside her as she realized that they cared for her just as much as she did for them.

Snatcher blinked at her, his smirk still strong even as his voice softened a little. **“Uh oh, I know that look. Don’t start crying on us again now, kid.”**

Hat Kid giggled and wiped her eyes, her hand coming back wet from unshed tears. Cookie cooed sympathetically and scooted over to her side, soon enveloping the child in a warm, loving embrace. Hat Kid leaned into the hug and returned it with one of her own, tears of simple joy trailing down her cheeks.

Cookie glanced up at Snatcher, seeing the shadow looking clearly uncomfortable with this entire situation. She didn’t really know him, but she did know that he was highly unfamiliar when it came to dealing with emotions.

Snatcher caught her gaze and immediately steeled his expression, crossing his arms and trying to look stern. Cookie just chuckled and returned her attention to the child in her arms, gently stroking her hair in a comforting, affectionate manner.

Hat Kid’s tears soon stopped but she didn’t move, noting that Cookie hadn’t pulled away yet either so hopefully that meant she was okay with continuing the embrace. She slowly relaxed and looked up to see the chef watching her with soft, loving eyes. No annoyance, no impatience, just pure, accepting love. For the first time in a very long while, Hat Kid felt that her clinginess wasn’t bothering anyone. Even when she looked up and over at Snatcher, she found him watching her with fondness in his eyes before he quickly masked it with a neutral expression, making her giggle softly. He was such a soon-deh-ray.

Cookie smiled a little wider when she saw how happy Hat Kid was, and she gave the child a little nuzzle against her head. Hat Kid immediately stared up at her, eyes wide at the affectionate gesture, before she hesitantly nuzzled back with a huge grin on her face. Cooking Cat purred happily while Snatcher rolled his eyes, but he was genuinely smiling.

“Thank you,” Hat Kid said quietly, adjusting her position to be more comfortable on Cookie’s lap.

“Of course, dear.” She wrapped the purple-clad girl in a renewed hug and felt her relax completely in her firm yet gentle embrace.

Hat Kid closed her eyes with a joyful smile on her face, her heart full of peace as she relaxed with her second family. She felt so safe and loved with them, and it was the best feeling in the universe.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this; let me know what y'all think in the comments below! I've got another AHiT story (a two-chapter tale this time!) that'll be posted in a few days, so if you enjoyed this, stay tuned for more!
> 
> Update: ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE FANART done by "delightful-69"!!!!! Please go appreciate their art because they are amazing!   
https://twitter.com/itsahit/status/1275629913819602944  
https://avatarcatz2323.tumblr.com/post/621783984640327680/12-i-dont-have-a-twitter-account-but-i-saw-the


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